Search - Diana Krall :: Quiet Nights

The iconic diva returns with a mixed bag.

ST | New York City | 04/07/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Quiet Nights" is Diana Krall's twelfth album, which marks her first work with the 79 year-old legendary arranger Claus Ogerman (Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim) since 2002's "Live in Paris", and her first studio work with Ogerman since 2001's "The Look of Love".



She may have started out as a jazz pianist/vocalist but these days Diana Krall seems to have ditched any semblance of swing in favour of sickly string arrangements.



Her voice is lush and exquisite but she overdoes the breathiness - to the point that one wonders if a ventilator is required - and sticks too much to indistinguishable, slow bossa novas and ballads.



The result is a florid and bland album that washes over the listener.

My favourite tracks are : "Too Marvelous For Words", "Walk On By", and "So Nice".

The album reaches # 1 of Billboard Top Jazz Albums. Issue date 2009-04-18

Live in Paris

Lazy Afternoon track # 5

Brazil duet with Diana Krall on track # 3

Burt Bacharach Songbook Track "Walk On By"

"

Not a good outing, even in Brazil. .. .

Michael Janocik | Louisville, KY | 04/06/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"My record collection is blessed with great Brazilian jazz and bossa nova. From Stan Getz to Antonio Carlos Jobim's Wave to Eliane Elias. It's a tough genre to pull off - to give it that cool, breezy, laid-back, I-wish-I-had-another-Mojito kind of feeling. If done well, the listener is transported to a gorgeous beach with beautiful women and cool mist of ocean spray, spawned by the hip grooves of quiet sophistication. If done poorly, the listener is pushed headfirst into the nearest elevator. I'm still punching the numbers looking for a more exciting floor . . .uh . . . I mean tune. Krall no longer seems to revel in the music. Instead, I get a sense she fell in line behind Tony LiPuma and headed to the studio with a few chords and one-too-many string programs. We witnessed Miles Davis fall from Kind of Blue to struggling through Cindy Lauper tunes late in his career. Krall seems to be on a similar fall from greatness. Let us hope and pray she finds her mark again. This ain't it. Save your money and pick up Eliane Elias "Sings Jobim.""

I'm just not feeling it...

Eric J. Anderson | Ankeny, Iowa | 05/22/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The singing, that is. This isn't a terrible album, but it certainly is missing a je ne sais quoi.



Pros: The classy orchestrations remind me of the classic Sinatra-Jobim collaboration. Diana's Jobim-like single-note piano solos are the essence of wit and understated grace.



Cons: Krall's singing has always been her weak point. Technically, her voice sounds good, but that's the problem. It's technically cool and precise, feathery, light, and on key. But it doesn't really touch me, except on personal material such as that found on The Girl In The Other Room. And some of the quieter material from her Paris concert. I'm not feeling it.



Not only that, Quiet Nights is filled with tempos that are maybe just a bit to slow to begin with, and Diana often sounds like she needs to get some sleep or lay off the 'ludes.



You're My Thrill is almost laughably bad, so ineffective is Krall at generating any kind of heat. Her delivery on So Nice sounds like she's doing a run through of the sheet music for the first time. What was she thinking? Not nice at all. Her slinky singing on Hang My Tears Out To Dry shows a little bit of the impishness and playfulness we see in her smile on the CD cover photo. What went wrong on the other songs, I can't guess.



And the orchestrations do tend to get lush to the point of syrupy or schmaltzy in spots. Part of that is used to good effect, but sometimes it goes overboard.



By contrast, Krall shines on Bacharach's Walk On By and How Can You Mend A Broken Heart by the Brothers Gibb. She sounds engaged here, and the arrangements are well thought out. Those two cuts are so good, it's almost shocking how dull some of the rest is. Corcovado (Quiet Nights) is one of my top ten favorite songs of all time, but Krall sleepwalks through the version on this album.



Well, I'm sorry to say this CD is a step backward in her recorded output. Even as a relaxing cocktail music album it pales by comparison to The Look Of Love -- again, with the exception of the Bacharach and Bee Gees cover tunes."